NY State Bilingual/ESL Network

Teaching and Learning of Language Arts

Over the past five years the Phillips Avenue School has had a significant increase of students whose first language is Spanish. This year in the second grade that number went over 20. According to NY State mandates, when a school has 20 or more students in the same grade and from the same cultural background, it must provide a bilingual class on that grade level. This class is offered as an option to parents who prefer to have their child in a bilingual setting.

The classroom is cheery and sunny. A library on one wall holds children’s books in both English and Spanish. The teacher, William Silva (pictured above), who speaks both English and Spanish, jumps easily between the two languages as he gets to know his new charges. (Before entering teaching, Mr. Silva was a NYC police officer.)

One little boy proudly shares, “I know a little French, too.”